Glider



t 1,945 c. F. ABEL Em 2,388,109

GLIDER FiledAug. 23, 1943 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Oct. 30, 1945. c. F. ABEL EI'AL Q 2,388,109

GLIDER Filed Aug. 23, 194:5 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 trimmed for level flight.

Patented Oct. 30, 1945 UNITED STATES PATENT oisF l-icg I 3:52: l

Gharles F.

Abel and Albert I. Lodwick, Lakeland, Fla. 1

Application Aug t 23, 19.43.. semi. 8 3a B Claims. (o 241 4? staatial distances, and which; are detachably secured toltowing planes by'ropes or cables for substantial periods of; time.

Theflightof a gliderwhich is being towed is, as; isfiwell known, facilitated when it is: perfectly This may be; and commonly is, efleeted'i by'manipulating the, various=flight-controlling instnumentalities, the glider pilot making suitable changes in these. instrumentalities by the means. provided for that purpose. this is done, however; the reflective. "ness ofthe gllderisrediiced soinetimes substan.- tially; particularly when the adjustments made require; a substantial increase in: the lifting effect of the tailof the machine. A practical way to trim"" the glider" d-uringflight so as tomaintain at all times its maximum aerodynamic efi'ectiveness is to change the position of" the line of thrust or pull of the tow rope or cable with respect" to the center of gravity of the-body of the glider;

The; present invention relates particularly to a means for facilitating change in this thrust or pull angle of the tow rope-with respect tothe body of the glider whereby the trim of the glid'enymay be maintained at all times during flight, regardless of changesia speed of themachine through the air, and changes in loading, changes in loading being; sometimes actually eflect'ed during flight. Bymeans of the improved mechanism which comprises the subject matter of this application a cable attachment member may be; so mounted upon the forward end or nose of the glider that it may be quickly and easily adjusted vertically with; respect to the glider body at any time, the pilot being thus able V ry at will the, line of thrust. or pull. of the tow ropewith respect to the center: of gravity of the. lider so. as to bev able tomaintain. the glider in perfect flying trim. without necessitating the manipulation of the; other, flight, control; instrumental-itiesl ptovid h he aerodynamic efi'ectiv r ness of the. glider. being. thus maintained at a maximum.

Preferably, the: glider is, provided with El. lie,-

leasable cable attachmentlmemher of standard typetowhich-the trailing. end of thetow mocma be detachably secured. cable, attachment memberis nothoweyer, rigidly, secured in.v fixed position to the; forward end of the glider: in. the

manner ,heretofbne; commonlyemployed; but is {v.5

appreciate, that .fiurther' ty'QeSlof, adiustable cable release member supports may be employed and that the. arrangement; and! precise design. ofthe several. elements: of the mechanism may be com si'd'enably: varied in adagting, the inwentiort to gliders; of various; types; a a In the: drawings? 1 a 1 Figure. 1' is) a. side elevation; ot a. typical glider $05 which. the. invention: hasibeen applied, one form of the fiovelccable release suoponting. and adjusting mechanism; being indicated inl: clotted lines; migurezzshowszorr a larger scale, the essence-- 'ti'on of" the glidei" shown in Eigune 1-, the wall 01* the glider bei ng. bmkenlxaway to Show more clearly the design of the cablerelease; member supporting and adjusting mechanism;

E'gune 3. is. a front. View of; the! nose of the glider shown in- Figures, 1 and 2-; m Figure 4 is a viewsimilairtoFigme 2,,amodiiied form of cable release member supporting. and adjusting mechanism-being iilustnated;

Figure 5 is an enlarged side elevation of adetailof" portion of the; mechanism shown in Eigure 4'g Figure 6 152, view similar to: E-igures zand 4, a further modification oithe cable release member supporting means being shown;- and Figure? is a section on line 1-1: ofEigureld The glider body is generally indicated in Figure I; by-thenumeral l-lI and the-towing; rope; or cable at H". A standard cable attachment member is indicated at 2, the trailing end or the cable 14 beingshown to be attached to the member {2. The details of the cable attachment. member,- l2 .ar not shown and it will be understoodthat any standard device of this type now known. may? employed; "It should, ofcourse, provideastaunch attachment means for the cable It and; at; the

.upon the worm shaft release.

' In the form of the cableattachment member supporting mechanism shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3,'the glider nose is provided with two arcuate members 4 and I5, channel-shaped in cross section and the manually facing webs l4 and I5 of which are disposed in closely spaced parallel planes, which planes are parallel to the'longitudinal axis of the glider, as can be most clearly perceived in Figure 3. The members l4 and I5, therefore, define a slot and through this slot projects an arm or element l6, upon the outer end of which the standard cable attachment mem ber I2 is rigidly mounted. The inner end of arm fixed upon the outer end of a worm'shaft 44.

Worm shaft 44 is telescopic, its outer end 44a be- 'ing preferably solid and its inner end 44b being I6 is fixed upon a short shaft H, the ends of;

which are rotatably supported in aligned bearings mounted upon parallel vertical members l8 the upper and lower ends of which are prefer- Q ably rigidly attached tothe ends of the slot-defining members l4 and 15, respectively. The axis of shaft I1 is coincident with the centers of ourvature of thearcuate members l4 and I5 sothat, as radial arm '|6 swings angularly about shaft the member l2 mounted upon the outer end of the arm will lie at all times just outside of the slot-defining members l4 and I5. There is 'provided an operating means for causing the arm |6 to swing through an arc of substantially 180 whereby member |2 may be moved to the position indicated at A in Figure 2, or to position B, or to any position intermediate positions A and B.

This means for effecting swinging movement, of arm |6 under control of the operator, and holding this arm rigidly in any position to which it may be adjusted, preferably comprises an irreversible gearing which includes a wormwheel fixed on shaft H, a worm 2-| the teeth of which are in constant engagement with those of the wormwheel, and means for rotating worm 2| in either direction, comprising a bevel gear 22 fixed 23 and a bevel gear 24 fixed upon the end of the horizontally disposed operating shaft 26. The ends of the worm shaft 25, and the operating shaft 26, are rotatably supported in bearings fixed upon a supporting frame 21 which is mounted upon the uprights l8. Shaft 26 is provided with an operating handle 28 acces'sible to the pilot of the glider while the glider is in flight so that he may at any time elevate or depress the cable attachment member [2. Conventional means for effecting cable release is provided one form of such means including the flexible tube 36 extending from the vicinity of the member |2 to the vicinity of the pilot's seat, the forward section of this tube being attached to the arm Hi, the tube constituting a guide for the operating wire, the handle of which is indicated at 3|, It is clear that the addition of the mechanism just described'to the glider does not mate- 'rially increase its weight and that thismechanism, being wholly enclosed, does not increase the resistance of the glider to movement through the air.

In theform of the invention illustrated in Figures 4, 5 and '7 the annular channel members l4 andlS of Figures 1, 2 and 3 are replaced by parallel spaced arcuate members one of which at least is internally toothed so as to be able. to functionas a curved rack, such a curved rack member being indicated at. 35. The standard cable attachment member I2 is shown to be mounted uponaframe generally indicated at 36, the frame being substantially triangular with the base member 36' thereof, upon which the member I2 is fixed, lying without members 35 and bepreferably tubular, the aperture in tube 44b being square in cross section and the end of section 44a which enters section 44b being squared so that the two sections of shaft 44 will rotate together at all times. The outer section 4411 of the worm shaft is rotatably supported in a bearing which comprises an extension of the frame 36 and the inner end of this shaft is connected to an operating shaft 46, extending axially of the glider, by means of a universal joint 41,

It is clear that, when shaft 46 is rotated, worm shaft 44' will belikewise rotated and that the frame 36, with the afiixed cable attachment member l2, will be moved along the circular rack in one direction or the other depending upon the direction of rotation of the shaft 46. Because of the telescopic nature of the shaft 44 it is not necessary to exactly center the circular rack 35 about the transverse axis of the universal coupling 41 in order that an adequate driving connection between the operating'shaft 46 and the pinion 42 be maintained. With this form of the invention, therefore, there may be wide variations in the shape of the nose, in vertical section, without requiring change in the operating means or elevating. or depressing the cable attachment member I2. The mechanism is likewise entirely enclosed, save only for the portion 36 of the cable attachment member supporting frame, and the associated rollers 31. Wind resistance is, therefore, not increased.

In the form of the invention shown in Figure 6 the cable attachment member I2 is disposed within the nose of the glider, the cable extending through a slot which may be defined by suitable arcuate members 56 disposed in parallel planes. Members 50 of Figure 6, likewise parallel arcuate members 35 of Figure 4, and 14 and I5 of Figures 1, 2 and 3, take up any wide thrust imposed on the body of the glider when the glider is horizontally turned, whether the side thrust be communicated to the glider directly from the towing cable, as in the case of the form of the invention in Figure 6, or througha frame such as indicated at 36 in Figure 4, or through an operating arm such as indicated at 6 in Figure 2.

.The standard cable attachment 'member l2 shown in Figure 6 is mounted directly upon a block 5| which in turn is slidably mounted upon vertically disposed guide rod or rods 52 which rods are disposed substantially vertically when the plane is in horizontal flight. Parallel to guide rod or rods 52 is a threaded rod 53, this rod havin threaded engagement with the innerwall of a bore or recess extending through block 5| so that, when the rod 53 is rotated, the block5| willbe raised or lowered. Fixed upon the upper end of the threaded rod 53 is a bevel pinion 54 the teeth of which are in constant mesh with those of a bevel pinion 55 mounted upon the forward end of an operating shaft'56 supported in a bearing carried by a bracket 51 affixed to the frame of the glider. The operating handle 56? of the opposition to which it may be adjusted.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. In a glider, in combination, a member at the forward end of the glider body to which the trailing end of a tow-line may be attached, and means mounted on the glider body for supportin said member in such manner that it may be adjusted vertically with respect to said body and maintained in any desired position of adjustment. said means including an element upon which said member is fixed, and manually operable gearing for adjusting said element and elevating or depressing said member.

2. The combination set forth in claim 1 in which said gearing includes an irreversible gear to adjust the position of said member with respect to the glider body.

3. In a glider, in combination, a nose Section provided with a vertical slot disposed centrally thereof, means associated with said nose section for releasably engaging a towing cable, and means carried by andoperable from within said nose section for adjusting said cable-engaging means longitudinally of said slot for altering the altitude of said means with respect to the glider body, said cable, cable-engaging means and adjusting means together constituting a connection between said glider and a towing means, said connection extending through said slot.

4. In a glider, in combination, a nose section provided with a vertical slot disposed centrally thereof, means associated with said nose section for releasably engaging a towing cable, and means carried by and operable from within said nose section for adjusting said cable-engaging means longitudinally of said slot for altering the altitude of said means with respect to the glider body, said adjusting means comprising a rigid member extending through said slot and carrying said cableengaging means, and means for adjusting said rigid member relative to said slot.

5. In a glider, in combination, a nose section provided with a vertical slot disposed centrally thereof, means associated with said nose section I for releasably engaging a towing cable, and means carried by and operable from within said nose section for adjusting said cable-engaging means longitudinally of said slot for altering the altitude of said means with respect to the glider body, said adjusting means comprising a rigid member extending through said slot and carrying said cable-engaging means, and self-locking means for adjusting said rigid member relative to said slot.

6. In a glider, in combination, a nose section provided with a vertical slot disposed centrally thereof, means associated with said nose section for releasably engaging a towing cable, and means carried by and operable from within said nose section for adjusting said cable-engaging means longitudinally of said slot for altering the altitude of said means with respect to the glider body, said adjusting means comprising a rigid member extending through said slot and carrying said cable-engaging means, and means including a, worm and wormwheel for adjusting said member relative to said slot.

7. In a glider, in combination, a nose section provided with a vertical slot disposed centrally thereof, means associated with said nose section for releasably engaging a towing cable, and means carried by and operable from within said nose section for adjusting said cable-engaging means longitudinally of said slot for altering the altitude of said means with respect to the glider body, said adjusting means comprising a rigid member pivotally mounted within said nose section and extending through said slot, said rigid member carrying said cable-engaging means, and means for moving said rigid member about its pivot.

8. In a glider, in combination, a nose section provided with a vertical slot disposed centrally thereof, means associated with said nose section for releasably engaging a towing cable, and means carried by and operable from within said nose section for adjusting said cable-engaging means longitudinally of said slot for altering the altitude of said means with respect to the glider body, said adjusting means comprising a rigid member pivotally mounted within said nose section and extending through said slot, said rigid member carrying said cable-engaging means, and means for moving said rigid member about its pivot, said last means including a wormwheel operatively connected to said rigid member, a worm meshing with said wormwheel, and means for rotating said worm.

CHARLES F. ABEL. ALBERT I. LODWICK. 

